He disliked going out during the day. Despite being a pride that valued night, a lot of lions were active while the sun was up - which made sense, when you thought about it. Most of the prey they’d hunt would be out right now, so of course they’d do their hunting now. Generally speaking, Brio tried to do all of his ventures at night, even if it meant hunting only the scrapes left behind, for one very specific reason..... He really didn’t do well around others. Just the thought made him shiver and want to bury his head under something.
Unfortunately for him though, a certain friend of his did enjoy being out in the day, and this particular friend was one that he’d always had the hardest time saying no to.
With a groan, Brio huddled behind the daylight colored female with the look of someone who wished he were anywhere but there. His own brilliantly colored mane was now started to come in, showing that he was beginning to grow into an able-bodied male, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t still feel like a cowering little cub.
He threw a sidelong look at Medli then. Almost like a mirror, she was showing herself as a beautiful lioness, albeit one that was still a little young. He envied whoever that “love of her life” was.... not that he would ever admit it out loud. His gaze slid down to his paws at the thought, the beginnings of a scowl on his face. He both loved and hated when she dragged him out to search like this. She was so convinced that she would find the strong, warm male from her visions, but all he wanted was for her to look at.....
He shook his head. It was a selfish thought, one he’d brushed away many times now. She deserved someone far braver than him, but at least this way, he could judge whoever it was for himself, make sure they were worthy of her.
Brio was jolted out of his thoughts when he felt a tug on his ear, and, knowing exactly who it was without even looking, he whined, “Medli, stop, that hurts.” His complaint was met with a pout, though whether it was in response to that or whether she had already been doing that, he couldn’t tell.
She had no idea what was holding his attention so, but she didn’t like it. He was meant to be helping her look for her mystery man, not daydreaming! Honestly, Brio sure did have his head in the clouds a lot lately. It reminded her of her sister, Itla, who also had been distracted of late. Was something going on that she didn’t know about?
No matter, she had more important things to worry about.
They had a lot of visitors today from another pride, and she wanted to look through them before they had a chance to leave. Many of them were bright, warm colors - exactly what she was looking for! And if that meant her mystery man was from another pride, well.... she wouldn’t be leaving home, but maybe she could convince them to stay! That would work, surely!
Sadly though, none had caught her eye.... a fact largely due to the majority being female, but even the males she’d spotted weren’t anything to write home about. With a frustrated huff, Medli had turned to ask her friend if he had spotted anyone on his side, only to discover that he wasn’t even paying attention. So she had done the first thing to come to her.
She had grabbed his ear and yanked.
Swatting a paw against him at his whine, Medli pouted back, “Then help me! You’re not even paying attention!”
”I am!” A blatant lie, and one that she was clearly seeing through, judging by the narrowing of her eyes. Brio inwardly winced at that, before scrambling to continue, “I just... You know I don’t like being in such huge crowds....”
That was true, and even now, he was giving a shifty look at a group that burst into laughter not far from them. Too much noise, too many people.... he didn’t like this at all.
She tried to stare him down, truly she did, but as he spoke, the fact of his words sunk in. Right.... Medli glanced around them at the mass of lions. It was a lot of people, and he probably also wasn’t used to the sun blazing against his back. She should probably work on that with him, but as for the now, well, they weren’t really getting anywhere with this anyway.
And if a little part of her felt guilty for dragging her clearly uncomfortable friend into a situation he wasn’t happy with, well, that was another thing. The selfish part of her wanted to keep looking, but she wanted to hang out with Brio too.
That’s when the idea hit her. Looking up, she scanned the rocky outcrops near them until, yes, there! Turning back to Brio, she nudged at him, “Then how about we move somewhere with less people where you can still help me look?” Her tail flicked behind her as she nudged his head to look at the overhang. It was secluded enough to hopefully keep Brio content, but still in view of all the action.
Reluctantly, he slid his gaze over to where she wanted him to look, and then relaxed slightly. Yes, that did sound better. He still would rather not be out here looking for a ghost of a lion, but at least they’d be by themselves.
So with a nod and a shaky smile, Brio agreed, “That... does sound better.”
Medli perked up at that, a bright grin beaming across her face. Maybe now they could both enjoy themselves.
“Let’s get moving then!” And then, wasting no more time, she began shoving him over towards it.
Brio let out a small yelp as he was pushed, but none the less continued walking. The sooner they were in the shadows, the sooner he could start letting his guard down a little, and then maybe they could finally actually hang out with each other.